June 19 (Bloomberg) -- J C Sum & “Magic Babe” Ning say they will chop themselves up, disappear, pass through solid objects and teleport across the Singapore River in an attempt to set a record of 15 grand illusions in 5 minutes.

The performance, with the humble title of “The Impossible Record,” will close the Singapore River Festival on June 27, according to the organizers. The week of events begins tonight with a parade of decorated bumboats -- the once ubiquitous vessels that ferried people and goods to the riverside warehouses from trading ships moored offshore.

The flotilla will try to revive memories of the bustling trade that once centered around the wharves and began Singapore’s journey to become the world’s biggest container port. The floats show illuminated tableaux of bygone traders, porters, rickshaw pullers, opera singers and street hawkers.

Where once dockers unloaded sacks of spices and silks, hipsters now load up with mojitos and margaritas. The old godowns and shophouses of the river’s three former trading centers -- Boat Quay, Clarke Quay and Robertson Quay -- are home to more than 200 bars, restaurants and night clubs.

Over the next week, the teenagers who line Read Bridge in the evening, swallowing cheap supermarket booze, will have to make way for performances of acrobatics and water ballet. Downriver at Empress Place, visitors will be treated to the sounds of Singapore’s reformed rock bands from the 1970s, 80s and 90s, according to the festival Web site.

‘River Romance’

And restaurant touts on Boat Quay will be able to assail the crowds heading to the specially commissioned “River Romance” dance musical on a temporary stage in front of United Overseas Bank Ltd.’s headquarters.

The hourlong play is set in the early 1900s and mixes singing, dancing, acrobatics and fight scenes choreographed by Picasso Tan -- an impressive package considering rehearsals only began two months ago, according to director Jeremiah Choy.

The play revolves around Poh Neo, a Peranakan maiden, who falls in love with a laborer, Gan Seng, thus annoying his rich and smarmy Eurasian rival George, who turns out to be the boss of a gang of pickpockets. The wispy plot is an excuse for a tour through the characters and sights of Singapore a century ago.

“Those days were quite traumatic,” said Choy in an interview at a technical rehearsal on June 17. “It was the beginning of multiculturalism. The gangs were defining their territory.”

Still, a festival on the Singapore River wouldn’t be complete without also playing to the strength of the local businesses: serving alcohol. Head down to the Original Bacardi Mojito Fiesta, which promises to serve up 20 different varieties of the cocktail with live music, cool jazz and a competition for bar-flairing -- the fatuitous art of tossing spirit bottles around while mixing drinks.

The nightly residents of Read Bridge will be happy to know that evening visitors to the riverside Asian Civilisations Museum on June 26 will be entitled to a free mojito and ice cream, to be enjoyed to the strains of Cuban jazz.

The Singapore River Festival opens tonight and runs through June 27 with free events along the river from Empress Place to Robertson Quay. For dates and times of the events, visit http://www.visitsingapore.com/srf09/main.html.

(Adam Majendie writes for Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are his own.)

To contact the writer on the story: Adam Majendie in Singapore at amajendie@bloomberg.com.

Last Updated: June 18, 2009 15:35 EDT